Private and Semi-Private Wireless Networks A closer look at Private Networks in 2020 and beyond A Disruptive Analysis thought-leadership eBook Table of Contents Introduction & Executive Summary . 3 Blurring the line between public and private networks . 4 Evolving today’s public / private infrastructure status-quo . 6 New spectrum, new technologies for private wireless . .8 Private 4G/5G cellular enablers . 8 Wi-Fi enhancements . 9 Other private wireless options . 9 Shifting demand: Use-cases, building types & verticals . 11 New stakeholders and service providers for private wireless . 13 Conclusions and recommendations . 16 The future of private and semi-private wireless . 16 Convergence, divergence or both? . 17 The future of private wireless in the post-pandemic world . 17 Recommendations . 19 Introduction & Executive Summary The enterprise and in-building wireless world is changing . From a simple two-way divide between public cellular networks plus private Wi-Fi, the sector is now fragmenting into numerous new models and technological approaches . This eBook follows on from previous iBwave publications that have considered CBRS, Private LTE and in-building network convergence . It considers various additional factors and trends including: ĉ The fast-evolving but distinct roles for 4G/5G and ĉ The complex ways that public networks and private Wi-Fi in enterprises . networks will combine . For instance, MNOs may use “network-slicing” to create another class of semi- ĉ Growing availability of localized and shared options private networks, with some direct control by business for spectrum and small 4G/5G networks, at scales customers . and prices suitable for businesses to deploy their own private cellular infrastructure . The previous binary choice ĉ The impact and timelines for new spectrum and of unlicensed bands vs . exclusive nationwide licences technologies, such as later versions of 5G (3GPP Release (suitable for public MNOs) no longer applies . 16/17), Wi-Fi6E in the 6GHz band, and new vRAN/ OpenRAN architectures . ĉ The expanding universe of stakeholders and specialist service providers in enterprise wireless networks, ĉ Counterintuitively, Private 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will drive both including carriers, property companies, neutral-hosts, convergence and divergence but at different layers of industrial automation and smart-building suppliers, as network and applications . well as public safety agencies . These can enable “semi- private” networks and managed services . ĉ Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the way in- building and on-campus wireless networks will be ĉ The need to distinguish between locations which deployed and used in future . This will consider possible need primarily human-focused wireless networks (for economic scenarios, shifts in sector/industry focus and employees and visitors) vs . machine/IoT-focused . priority, and possible new regulatory angles in future . New spectrum & new types of SP change the “private network” landscape Public Mobile Operators Public Mobile Services Specialized Wireless Networks Private Wireless Networks Private Wireless Unlicensed Licensed Networks Spectrum Spectrum Unlicensed Local & Licensed Spectrum Shared (national) Spectrum Spectrum Source: Disruptive Analysis Private and Semi-Private Networks 3 Blurring the line between public and private networks In the past, there has always been a clear distinction between public and private wireless networks inside enterprise premises . ĉ Public wireless networks involve the delivery of cellular service from MNOs (also called carriers), mostly to smartphones carried by visitors and employees, for voice telephony and mobile data . Public safety agencies have generally used their own wireless networks, separate from the MNOs’ systems . The 5G era makes public networks more important – but also harder to deliver . ĉ Private wireless networks – primarily using Wi-Fi today – are used for corporate and Internet data connectivity from a wide range of devices, including PCs and smartphones, as well as various IoT systems . Private networks are now becoming far more extensive and capable – and may include localized spectrum licenses suitable for private cellular . There has been some overlap between these worlds, such as where MNOs provide public-access Wi-Fi hotspots in some buildings, linked to their cellular infrastructure for “offload” – but this has been comparatively minor overall. Unlike utilities like energy and water – or even fixed-line telecoms – there is no clear “demarcation point” of responsibilities for wireless, as the vagaries of wireless signals mean that outdoor public-network signals work (partially) indoors, and indoor private-wireless can extend out beyond the walls . Wireless networks do not have clear “demarcation points” Variable demarcation between public vs. private Clear demarcation between public vs. private Source: Disruptive Analysis Private and Semi-Private Networks 4 So there has always been an underlying tension and contradiction . Provision of public network services, such as normal 3G/4G mobile, on private property, introduces various types of complexity . Except where MNOs can provide those services purely with outdoor-to-indoor radio propagation from their macro networks, they have usually needed to rely on some privately-owned assets . These can be thought of as precursors of the new domain of “semi-private” networks . These public/private overlaps and tensions will only get deeper in the coming years, because of a number of trends occurring simultaneously: ĉ 5G brings new frequency bands and radio technologies, that need new approaches to on-premise wireless equipment, design and business models . ĉ Private cellular networks are becoming easier and more desirable to build . ĉ Campus networks spanning indoor and outdoor domains are growing in importance, blurring further the boundaries of the “private” domain . ĉ Diverse IoT use-cases and systems blend the wireless world with enterprise IT, industrial OT (operational technology) and new service-provider focus areas . ĉ Wi-Fi is becoming more sophisticated, business-critical – and yet sometimes congested . It is also evolving technically, with WiFi6 and the new 6GHz band . ĉ Public safety networks are shifting towards 4G/5G technology (sometimes dedicated, sometimes with an SP) – and indoor coverage is being regulated more . ĉ The COVID19 pandemic will create new drivers for – and economic brakes against – enterprise wireless, both public and private . Outcomes are as yet unknown . Taken together, these trends mean that the historic separation of public and private networks is coming to an end . We will need to design, plan and invest for a future of hybrid on-premise networks that combine public and private connectivity in new ways . Private and Semi-Private Networks 5 Evolving today’s public / private infrastructure status-quo Today, a building owner may invest in a DAS (distributed This variable semi-private / semi-public hybrid leads to antenna) system, Wi-Fi network, Fiber infrastructure – and lengthy cycles for in-building wireless design, deployment the ducts and risers and power supplies – that support and contracting, and a lack of standardisation in terms of both public cellular services and its own private wireless business model and control . Sometimes carriers have paid system(s) and wired network . Sometimes a third-party for indoor/on-premise systems, while sometimes it is the service provider installs and operates a neutral system on owner or occupant’s responsibility . Enterprises use a mix of the property company’s behalf . capex and opex depending on the situation and involvement of third-party providers . Getting multiple MNOs to agree On-site mobile coverage generally uses the MNOs’ own on sharing a system has been harder still . As a result, many licensed spectrum and “signal source” (typically a base systems have been one-off “special projects” . station or small cell), but the other physical infrastructure required is held on other companies’ balance sheets . In This model cannot work well in the future 5G world, or even certain instances, one or more carriers may directly deploy some of the advanced 4G use-cases around IoT . Although their own infrastructure, although this is rare . The use the mobile industry is looking at enterprise as a core new of MNOs’ own spectrum means there is no clear single source of revenues, scaling will be problematic . There are demarcation point between public and private realms, even simply too many companies and sites, with too many urgent with a DAS . There is always a risk of interference, or poor but diverse use-cases, to wait in line for carriers’ processes coordination, between indoor-originated and outdoor- and priorities . macro signals . Today’s indoor wireless: Licensed public mobile, plus unlicensed private Wi-Fi 3G / 4G Public Services from MNO Hotspots / some MNO offload signal sources Wi-Fi + Bluetooth + niche ISM Niche/vertical wireless Private eg. PMR, broadcast, P2P links Networks Private WLAN & IoT networks Unlicensed Spectrum Licensed Spectrum Source: Disruptive Analysis Private and Semi-Private Networks 6 Meanwhile, Wi-Fi and some other wireless systems have Using unlicensed spectrum has meant that its installation been deployed as pure private networks much more has been “permission-less”, and a vast ecosystem of both broadly . Originally, Wi-Fi grew as an extension of wired network infrastructure and client/device products has ethernet LANs, paralleling the shift from